Friday, 20 February 2015

Finding a decent romantic comedy to watch on a night in can prove tricky. Most aren't my cup of tea - Love Actually made me cringe and I could never really relate to Bridget Jones. But there are a few romantic films that aren't overly schmaltzy or cliched. Here are seven great comedy romances to watch with your other half (or best friend... or pet dog) that don't suck.

1. Manhattan

Woody Allen's classic from 1979 stars Allen as a divorced writer who's dating Muriel, a student when he starts to fall for another woman. The opening scene, featuring 'Rhapsody in Blue' is a perfect love letter to New York.

2. Say Anything

Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) is a high school student who falls for high achiever Diane.

Contains the classic scene with the boombox and the perfect line, "I gave her my heart and she gave me... a pen." Poor Lloyd.

3. The Graduate

The Graduate stars Dustin Hoffmann, a graduate (ahem) who gets seduced by his parent's friend, Mrs Robinson. Though made in the late 60s the humour in the film hasn't dated, and the ending makes me cry happy tears!

4. Before Sunrise

Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke play Jesse and Celine, two twenty-somethings who get chatting whilst inter-railing around Europe. They decide to spend a day exploring Vienna together, walking and talking about life and love. This film spawned two sequels, but the first still holds my heart.

5. When Harry Met Sally

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan star as high school friends who share a car trip from Chicago to New York before parting ways. They bump into each other again 12 years on and their friendship develops into something more. A great script by Nora Ephron, including the famous scene at Katz's Deli.

6. Overboard

I wanted to include a Goldie Hawn film in this list as she is a queen of comedy romance, and Tom's suggestion was Overboard! Hawn plays a wealthy lady who gets amnesia after being knocked overboard on her yacht. Her carpenter, played by real life partner Kurt Russell, tricks her into thinking she's his wife so she can play mother to his crazy kids!

7. The Wedding Singer

Adam Sandler plays a wedding singer who falls for waitress Drew Barrymore. One of those rare 'good' Adam Sandler movies, with a great 80s soundtrack. Steve Buscemi also steals the show halfway through in a drunken speech at his brother's wedding.

What are your favourite comedy romances? Or are you more of an action movie fan?!

Monday, 16 February 2015

Posts may be a bit sporadic over the next few weeks as Tom and I have *finally* had a completion date for the house we are buying. Hurrah! It took the best of six months but moving day is just a few weeks away so we've been busy packing up boxes (with me getting rather distracted, finding old memories at the bottom of drawers... 'look, an actual tape!' 'I'd forgotten all about this!' etc).

We've also been having a proper sort of things we don't need and bundling down to the charity shop whenever we can. We've even cleared out our huge bookcase (above), which we will really miss! It'll be strange to leave the Convent but I'm excited to have a whole house and garden of our own.

Apart from packing I've been...

Watching Transparent and really enjoying it as the series progresses. Also enjoying Catastrophe on Channel 4, Community & Better Call Saul on Netflix. And the Gilmore Girls.

Listening to old Kenickie songs I'd forgotten about.

Making the most of still living in town and meeting friends for Sunday breakfasts

Friday, 6 February 2015

Plot This week I went to see a new documentary about the Manics, directed by fan Elizabeth Marcus, who appeared afterwards for a Q&A. The film features fan interviews that stretch over a ten year period, then features the band themselves during 2005-7.Guest appearances If you were an early Manics fan perhaps you were in this film?! Other than that the band Rush show up and are mentioned quite a bit!Fun factsOne of my favourite moments was discovering drummer Sean Moore is an avid gun collector and finds target practise 'relaxing'.. hmm!Overall This is a really warmly made film that shows the band at their most human. Although I'm not an obsessive Manics fan (Nirvana and Blur were my favourites growing up!) I do like their early material and it was fun to hear from their fans who are amongst the most devoted I know of (one man in the audience said he'd seen the band live 87 times!).